About the Partnership Programme

A partnership programme supported by the Education Endowment Foundation.

The programme was born out of a partnership working group exploring ways to tackle the stubborn achievement gap for disadvantaged pupils in Devon.

information session presentation

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), Babcock LDP / Devon County Council, The Diocese of Exeter, South West Institute for Teaching (SWIFT), Kingsbridge Research School and representation from FE / Special School and school leadership.

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The Initial Project.

The initial project will run three times from the beginning of summer term 2021 to the end of summer term 2022 with a focus on the teaching of reading in years 3 and 4. Although this project is focussing on schools with high numbers of FSM children this is an opportunity for all schools to consider how they support teachers in Years 3 and 4 to improve the teaching of reading. This will include open access opportunities to:

Attend the EEF 3 day (or equivalent) Literacy training at a subsidised cost.
Attendance at local networks facilitated by our Right to Read Practice Partners.
An additional opportunity for some schools to receive on-site support through our Right to Read Practice Partners.

Aims of the Project.

Improved reading to benefit the learning of all primary school pupils in Devon regardless of background, recognising the specific challenges around literacy that are facing rural contexts and schools serving areas of disadvantage.
Meet the need and desire to develop local capacity and expertise amongst school & curriculum leaders, improving teaching & learning in the classroom.
Establish a sustainable process for addressing local issues, putting evidence to use through effective approaches to implementation.
Develop and implement appropriate reading interventions and support wider school strategies in relation to reading across the whole school.

We wholeheartedly believe that reading is a gateway to accessing the whole curriculum and being a good reader enables children to transcend their backgrounds and improve their opportunities. In addition reading is one of the most enjoyable activities we can engage in and we want every child in Devon to benefit from all that reading brings.

Why Years 3 and 4?

TEACHERS
The teaching of reading up to the end of KS1 is heavily supported through the English Hub model providing ongoing and systematic training and school support with a significant investment of funding to develop early reading skills.

Generally, schools have ensured that there is a level of support for Year 5 and 6 due to the focus on SATS outcomes. Currently there are a number of programmes and training in Devon aimed at supporting Year 5 and 6 teachers to improve reading.

It has been identified that teachers of Year 3 and 4 need support to avoid the post phonics / pre-SATs ‘dip’ and adopt a comprehensive, evidence-informed approach to teaching reading that targets the needs of individual children.

In Devon, on average 60% of Primary NQTs are assigned to Years 3 and 4 classes and local knowledge would suggest that less experienced teachers are deployed to teach these year groups.

This is needed in order to invest in our Year 3 and 4 teachers, ensure they feel valued and empower them to deliver effective approaches to reading in the classroom

Outcomes for Children.

There remain some children, disproportionately from disadvantaged backgrounds, who do not develop the full range of skills associated with good reading by the end of primary school.

This is needed so that they can be successful readers, access the curriculum and leave school with the outcomes often associated with economic, personal and social wellbeing.

Disadvantaged’ children in Devon are less likely to reach expected levels of reading compared with disadvantaged children nationally: 56.6% (Devon) vs 59% (National) (2019). There is a 20.2% gap between disadvantaged students and non-disadvantaged in achieving the expected level in reading at the end of KS2.

The Main Delivery Approach.

The programme will deliver to 3 cohorts of 30 schools over the next 18 months. Each cohort will include 20 schools identified as having high numbers of pupil premium children and/or a large gap between pupil premium children/bottom 20% and others.

The structure of the programme is to work with three cohorts of schools as follows:

Launch event in early summer term 2021 for all schools involved.
Equivalent of three days training for English subject leaders and Year 3 and 4 teachers for identified schools (20 per cohort) and open access to other schools per cohort to provide access to a total of 90 schools.
Three to six days support for specific identified schools provided by local wraparound support through Right to Read Practice Partners to embed improved practice in relation to the teaching of reading in Year 3 and 4, develop and implement appropriate reading interventions and support wider school strategies in relation to reading across the whole school. The EEF will fund work with 13 identified school and LDP will work with 20 identified maintained schools – supporting 11 schools per cohort. Right to Read Practice Partners will work collectively as a team providing a range of expertise that can be utilised across the 33 schools.

Overview of EEF Primary Literacy Training.

The EEF Professional Development offer is structured over nine modules, seven of which are covered as part of this training:

Module 1: The Foundations of Literacy. The importance of Implementation.
Module 2: Speech and Language
Module 3: Developing a Dialogic Classroom
Module 4: Teaching Reading – A Balanced Approach: Decoding and Comprehension
Module 5: Teaching Reading – Reading Fluency; Motivation and Engagement
Module 8: High-quality Structured Literacy Interventions
Module 9: Identifying Priorities in Literacy: Prepare Deliver Sustain

Modules 6 & 7 Focus on writing (not part of this CPD).
Module 6: Teaching Writing as a Process
Module 7: Teaching Transcription skills: Spelling and handwriting; Assessment in Literacy

Programme:

Dates to be notified

Launch Event:
Module 1 will be covered by an introduction at the Launch event and pre-course tasks.

Day 1: 10.00 – 12.00 & 1.00 – 3.00
Module 2 & 3 – Speaking and listening & developing a dialogic Classroom

Day 2: 10.00 – 12.00 & 1.00 – 3.00
Module 4 & 5 – Teaching Reading

Day 3: 10.00 – 12.00 & 1.00 – 3.00
Modules 8 & 9 – Structured interventions & Identifying Implementation Priorities

Additional areas of delivery.

In addition to the programme there will be a dedicated website. This will provide information to all schools in Devon, a dedicated area for the schools receiving wraparound support and a professionals area for those supporting the project.

Going forward, we are looking to develop specific information and training for governors including a review tool and support for parents possibly including an SMS service for schools to support reading at home.

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Cohorts 2 and 3 registration is now open.

Following our successful launch for Cohort 1, schools who have not already registered can now register for Cohorts 2 and 3.